The Boy in the Basement

Chapter 11

"Liesel!" I called upstairs. "Mama has a load of washing for you to take!"

"Coming!" She replied as she came running down the stairs. Today was her birthday, and she was excited. She was turning 12. Max had made her a little book from some of the pages from some of the pages from Mein Kampf. He was planning on giving it to her later that night.

2 months had come and gone quickly. Cora wrote to me. I heard a few times from her. Her letters were usually short, but from what I got, she was doing alright. I imagined it was rough, though. Being a part of the war was rough, no matter what part you were involved in. Life was almost the same. The biggest change, in my opinion, was Max. He was talking more and more. I noticed a difference in his appearance; although he wasn't too much bigger, he wasn't dangerously thin like he once was. He had color in his cheeks. He just looked better.

I was sitting downstairs with Max, him reading and me drawing. I had been making a lot of drawings lately, down in the basement. Max was surprisingly good at painting, so occasionally he did that.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Max said suddenly, which made me jump.

"What is that?"

"What if - and this is just an idea - what if you sold some of your drawings? Just to make a bit of money." He suggested. "It's just an idea."

"I'm not sure... I don't know if anyone would like them." 

"Of course they would. You have phenomenal talent, Adeline. These are some of the best drawings I've ever seen. Trust me, people will buy them. But like I said, it's just a suggestion." I thought for a moment; this could work. It could help make some extra money. But I was still insecure about how people would like them. I never really showed people my art.

"Alright, I'll do it." I finally said. "I could start today. I have enough drawings. And maybe I would be able to get Liesel something." I smiled a bit. "This could work." After saying goodbye, I gathered all my drawings (I had 10 of them), and went out. There was a flea market not too far from here where I could sell my stuff.

At first, no one really came to my table. I was only setting my drawings for 2 euros. In the first half hour, only 1 person came and bought one. But soon enough, another one came.

"Did you do these?" She asked.

"Ya, I did." I replied.

"These are amazing! You have a real talent, young lady." She said.

"Thank you." 

"I'll take two." She handed me the money - 8 euros.

"Ma'am, this is double the actual price." I began to give her some of the money back, but she stopped me.

"You deserve more than you're asking for, honey. Really, take it. I'm going to refer you to a few people around, too. You deserve to be recognized." She walked off, and I laughed a bit. Max was right. This was going to make money for the family.

The lady must have recommended me to other people, because the other 7 drawings went quickly. Some people even paid more like the first lady did. I ended up making  36 euros, which was more than I usually made. I could only imagine how Mama and Papa would react.

Mama was in the kitchen when I got home. "I thought you weren't going to work today?" She asked.

"That's not where I was." I replied. "But you'll be happy to know I just made 36 Euros." Mama looked at me with surprise.

"How? What did you do?" She asked.

"I sold some of the drawings that I've done." I said. "It was Max's idea, really." I handed her the money, and she smiled.